Bruce Arians Says He Was Not Offered Contract & No Reason Was Given As To Why

Finally a little more light is being shed on the Bruce Arians situation as Frank Bodani from the York Daily Recordreports that Arians told him he wasn\’t offered a contract for 2012 and that made the decision to retire easy for him. Arians told Bodani that Pittsburgh Steelers President Art Rooney II didn\’t give him a reason why. Arians told Bodani, “I can\’t answer that question. Only the people there can. That\’s the business. I know the job we did as a staff. I don\’t have any regrets.”

Arians also said in the article that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is not happy that he is not returning, but understands that it is part of the business. Roethlisberger owns property near Arians in Georgia and the two will see each other quite a bit. It also has been previously reported that the Steelers star quarterback was going to take Arians and quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner with him as guest to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii this week.

Arians says in the article that he has not ruled out a return to coaching and admitted to being contacted already about several coaching job possibilities since not being asked back by the Steelers last week. He also has not ruled out a return to the college ranks either.

You had to know that the truth would come out sooner or later in regards to Arians and judging by the article it seems that it was the decision of Rooney that led to Arians not returning. Rooney made it seem like the decision was one that head coach Mike Tomlin would make, but looking at all of the evidence now, Tomlin had no say in the matter.

Tomlin is down in Mobile, Alabama this week for the Senior Bowl and it will be interesting to see if any of the media ask him about the situation with Arians and his so called retirement. I doubt it, but I also doubted the real story would surface this soon.

I don’t disagree with the move. All the numbers, yards from scrimmage, YAC, and QB rating don’t mean a hill of beans if those stats don’t translate to where the numbers really count: the scoreboard.

Tom

I think the major factors in the decision were:

* Roethlisberger was becoming the Offensive Coordinator rather than the one being coached and had too much control. Ben even said one time that he would refuse to come out of the game if asked. Note Tomlin’s very strong reaction if asked if Ben’s opinion would factor in any decisions regarding Arians this year.

* Lack of scoring (barely won the SB with AZ, lost with GB, scoring too low this year)

* Arians play calling has been poor at times. They would be running the ball at will down the field, but then start throwing it when close to the red zone and end up settling for a field goal, or get sacked and have to punt

* Rooney did say in recent years we have to get back to running the football. Arians did that one year and then didn’t do it after that.

John21

Support the move. The question remains-if we take all we hear at face value – why wouldn’t Rooney and/or Tomlin sit the man down, look him in the eye, and be straight. It’s never fun, but everyone is owed that when you are fired.

Aiden Cooper

S.Depot. And I got all of the intended subtext you just shot across, wink, wink, hell yeah.

Shannon Stephenson

i just do not understand this Tomlin had no say into it…how do we know that Rooney and Tomlin didnt discuss the situation. It would have been stupid to say it was up to Tomlin and signed Arians to a contract before talking to him.

AW

play calling in the red zone was only issue===he was adequate coordinator===defensive calls a la baltimore ravens last play and the tebow mismanagement though hampton out were bigger issues